Three Norwalk Housing Authority workers are being recognized as heroes after evacuating residents from a building that was on fire.

Officials say the incident happened last month at the Roodner Court Housing Complex in building 20. They say the fire broke out in a closet on the first floor.

Peter Agosto, Arnold Fuller and Devon Moore were given civilian awards for community service Monday night by Norwalk police.

Fuller and Agosto, who work for the Norwalk Housing Authority, say they saw the smoke and started getting tenants out before the fire department arrived. They say they were able to get about a dozen people to safety.

"You do stuff instinctively, you don’t think about what you're doing when you're doing it, so you just do it," says Fuller.

The men say they do not consider themselves heroes, and that the flames could have been much worse because there was a gas can near the fire.

Norwalk police say the men "exemplify what it means to be a citizen."